Volunteer committee assesses Hope roads

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, July 7, 2004

The people of Hope Township dont need to be told their roads are in poor condition.

They do, however, need them fixed.

Thats why six residents formed the Hope Road Committee  to help find ways to fix the roads, as well as funding for them. The committee met again June 30 to discuss upcoming plans for Hope roads.

Each member conducted informal polls of township residents before the meeting to get a general idea of how they felt about fixing the roads.

"Most people agreed that there was a need to get something done," committee member Jackie Anderson said.

The committee also gathered information about which roads people felt needed to be fixed, and divided them into two groups, Anderson said. Four segments of Hope roads are in a "high-priority" group: a one-mile section of Curtis, between Meridian and Five Mile roads, a one-mile section of Meridian between Curtis and Seiko, a half-mile section of Hull between Stark and Wendt, and a half-mile section between Schaeffer and Hull road. The second group is a larger group of roads that also would need repair soon.

A committee member will check with Edenville Township about working on the one-mile section of Meridian, because part of it lies in Edenville. Member Jim Hockemeyer is going to check with the road commissioner about estimates on all roads in time for the next meeting.

"The committee agreed that the condition the roads are in make it so that at this point we will not upgrade the roads; we will just repair what we have," Anderson said.

To fund the project, the committee will recommend a road tax of around 2 mills to the Hope Township Board in August.

The committee is a volunteer group of residents who are responsible for plans to fix roads in Hope with poorly rated conditions. The process could take two to five years.

The next meeting is Monday, July 19 at 7 p.m. in the Hope Township Hall. The public is invited to that meeting.